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Sen. Murkowski tours Kodiak’s aging waterfront infrastructure

KMXT | By Brian Venua

Published April 24, 2025 at 5:08 PM AKDT

Sen. Lisa Murkowski stands by the helm of a boat the City of Kodiak uses to patrol its harbors.

Kodiak’s St. Herman Harbor is in dire need of replacement. City officials took Alaska’s senior senator to tour its waterfront infrastructure on a recent stop to the island.

“We don’t have a decade to fundraise,” Harbormaster Dave Johnson told the senator. “We’ve got to get it rebuilt.”

He said a “real” winter storm could destroy an entire float. One of the larger floats there could dock up to 28 large boats.

Much of Kodiak's fishing fleet docks at the St. Herman Harbor, like these trawl boats.

St. Herman Harbor has had myriad issues in recent years. A boat sank while docked there in 2023 and damaged two adjacent slips. Commonly referred to as “Dog Bay,” the infrastructure there was built in the early 1980s and has rusted electrical boxes and worn walkways.

The City of Kodiak initially estimated rebuilding the harbor would cost about $60 million. Now, engineers contracted by the city think it could cost nearly $100 million.

Harbormaster Dave Johnson (right) shows Sen. Murkowski some of the derelict boats and infrastructure in the St. Herman Harbor.

“That’s just it – nothing is getting cheaper,” Murkowski said to the group.

The harbormaster also took her to see rusting out pilings holding up both Kodiak’s Pier 2, which is used for large research and fishing boats, as well as Pier 3, the town’s primary shipping dock.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Oscar Dyson docks at Pier 2, which is often referred to as Oscar's dock.

She said seeing the aging port herself puts everything Kodiak officials tell her into context.

“I’ve seen the PowerPoints that the city and the mayor have brought back to Washington, D.C. – the need has been explained to me,” Murkowski said. “But when you’re out on the water, when you’re looking at it, when you’re understanding the impact of what a hard wind storm is going to do – the loss of some of these slips – you can see the need. You can see the urgency.”

Murkowski takes a photo of sea lions on a floating dock on the far side of the St. Herman Harbor.

In 2022, Kodiak was the sixth largest fishing port in the country by volume and revenue. Much of the town’s economy relies on waterfront infrastructure.

“When it comes to a strong fishing economy, you can’t have it unless you have good infrastructure,” Murkowski said. “And you’ve got the bones of good infrastructure, but it needs to be built out.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski listens to concerns from Kodiak Island Borough's manager, Aimee Williams (in yellow).

The city received about $11 million for the harbor in federal grants last November. Another $10 million was requested for it in the current federal budget year. But it’s unknown if it will come through after the Senate cut almost $16 billion in money earmarked for projects across the country.

Murkowski said she’s working on getting those funds reappropriated.

Murkowski steps off the Kodiak Harbormaster boat onto the St. Paul Harbor downtown.